Lightning Strike Near Porto Alegre, Brazil

October 09, 2018

Lightning_IMG_3478 (1)

Photographer: Carlos Fernando Jung 
Summary Authors: Carlos Fernando Jung; Jim Foster

Shown above is an attention-getting cloud-to-ground lightning strike that occurred just to the south of the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre, Brazil, on August 31, 2018. The return stroke is the main visible event of a flash of lightning, but each flash consists of one or more discharges or strokes lasting less than a millisecond. Temperatures of a huge bolt of lightning, such as the one at center, can reach 50,000 degrees F (27,760 C), and over 100 million volts of electricity may be discharged.

Photo Details: CANON T7i camera; 18-250 mm; F 3.5; 8 second exposure; ISO 100.